The Voice singer rocks open mic night

The University Program Council’s first Open Mic Night of fall 2017 featured not only former The Voice contestant Angie Keilhauer emceeing and performing, but also the second-coming of Beyonce.

Nikea Minott, or as she prefers, Nikea Summertime, first took the stage to sing her rendition of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down.” After two rounds of applause, Keilhauer shared her own reaction to Summertime’s performance.

“OK, Beyonce,” Keilhauer said. “That was amazing.”

Keilhauer then launched an impromptu duet with the senior nursing major, commenting how she wanted to hear Summertime’s voice actually sing one of Beyonce’s works. The two treated the audience to their unique cover of the 2008 Grammy award-winning single “Halo,” with Keilhauer playing her guitar and both of them belting out the lyrics.

Keilhauer not only said the experience was great, but that Summertime had an “incredible voice,” even going as far as joking about bringing her on tour.

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“I’m not sure how to put it into words quite honestly,” Summertime said, commenting on how she was still shaking from the experience. “I’m just really happy.”

Keilhauer said she was also excited to perform, and though it’s been over a year since she was in Colorado, she remembered how beautiful a state it is.

“Honestly, hosting an open mic night is always my favorite thing to do,” Keilhauer said. “This is how I started, you know, this is how any artist starts, is just sharing. So being a part of it, and just getting to emcee it is literally living the dream for me.”

Keilhauer asked the audience how many of them were there to support an artist, and was thoroughly pleased with the turnout. The artist reminisced about the constant support she has from not only her fans, but her family as well. According to Keilhauer, her mother once waited in her car for hours, just to hear her daughter’s song on the radio and sent Keilhauer a recording of it. That unwavering love is what partially inspired one of Keilhauer’s soon-to-be-recorded songs. However, that support doesn’t just come from family; Keilhauer said her time auditioning for and being on The Voice nearly “quintupled” her social media following.

“I responded to every message that came through to me at the time, a lot of those same fans do come to my shows as I tour, and I get to meet them face-to-face,” Keilhauer said. “There’s just so many people I’ve met through the show that I’ve stayed in touch with, and just been part of the whole journey.”

The journey continues to last with Keilhauer’s dedication. Keilhauer auditioned for The Voice a total of five times over the course of seven years, resulting in her cancelling a three month tour and nearly emptying her bank account. However, after being rejected, Keilhauer had time to write her songs and improve her performance, and she eventually made it onto The Voice.

“The only thing that I find in common with anything that I’ve done that is important to me, happened because of one thing only: I just didn’t stop,” Keilhauer said.

The next UPC Open Mic Night is 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11 in the University Center first floor atrium. More information on Keilhauer can be found on her website at angiekeilhauer.com, and a full video of Keilhauer and Summertime’s performance can be found in the link.